One more coffee, please!

The aroma of art and coffee gets percolated at Beyond Coffee. A wraparound of glass and the whiteness of walls give the interiors a spacious look. Set against the bright white walls are paintings of artist M. Dayakar. The seating is low and cosy, where you can sit back and chat, sipping fine coffee. There is an outdoor space as well as space on the terrace for private parties.

Oh! One more coffee shop on the hills. Do we need another one? That might be the reaction of many when they see the Beyond Coffee signage on Road no. 36 Jubilee Hills. With valet parking and enough parking space, it looks like an inviting place to step in.

Spilling the beans

So how do they brand themselves as boutique coffee shop blended with an art gallery? “We are sourcing our own coffee beans and we have our own roasting facility. So, the brews will be better than what you get in the chains. And if people want filter coffee they will get exactly that,” says Vivek Rao. Besides the usual Arabica and Robusta, the coffee house has something what it calls house blends, where the beans are combined to craft a different flavour. It also has organic coffee from Araku valley called Monet's sunrise: “a hint of citrus, a touch of green apple, flecks of chocolate and caramel, with a bitter-sweet after-taste”.

A wraparound of glass and the whiteness of walls give the interiors a spacious look. Set against the bright white walls are paintings of artist M. Dayakar. The seating is low and cosy, where you can sit back and chat, sipping fine coffee. There is an outdoor space as well as space on the terrace for private parties.

But what sets apart this place is not the space or spaciousness but the coffees and the eats. “We have our own bakery and we have a huge kitchen, so Chef Srinivas can really make a difference to what you eat here,” informs Vivek, a businessman, artist and a coffee connoisseur. The inspired menu has items that are named after painting movements or painters. So, there is a Rembrandt Super Sandwich which is a “marinated chicken breast topped with shoe string French fries, cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and onion.” On the table, with the French fries, it looks nothing like your everyday sandwich which you can hold with your fingers and bite into. It looks like the hot pastrami sandwich that Dagwood Bumstead makes, except for the fact that the bread slices are a little thicker and stuffing colourful and it makes you wonder whether you have to open your mouth like a crocodile to chomp down on the stuff.

Right now the display is that of artist Magunta Dayakar, “I visualise a place where people come have a coffee, a bite, talk about art and chill. Even before we are open two actors have picked up two paintings. So all the possibilities are there,” says Vivek sounding optimistic about his foray.

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